


Hanna No Tsubomi Kara

by TheDragonWithTheBloodyTears



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Character Growth, Coming of Age, Eventual Romance, Found Family, Friendship, Haruno Sakura-centric, Humor, Light Angst, Medical Ninjutsu as a Weapon, Mentor Anko, Mentor/Protégé, Multi, Snakes, Summons, Training, undecided pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28539429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonWithTheBloodyTears/pseuds/TheDragonWithTheBloodyTears
Summary: In a world where Sakura had beaten Ino in the Chunin Exams and is forced to train seriously for the finals, will she get over her obsession with the raven-haired Uchiha long enough to unlock her true potential or will her obsession be her demise?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 69





	1. Problem and… Solution?

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Long story short, I decided to move my old ff.net stuff over to here. I wrote this wayyy back in like.... 2010 lol. I was but a wee babe then.

_ I was weak. I was a disappointment. I was...Not worthy. But it was my fault. Maybe if I had trained it would have been different. Maybe if I had never broken off our friendship for some stupid dream that wasn't even possible, I wouldn't be in this mess.  _ Sakura thought to herself.  _ It's ironic isn't it? How one little ripple in time can have such a big impact in the future. Something as simple as deciding to pack an extra explosive tag before your mission could save your life. _

**Flashback**

Sakura stared at her reflection in the sink. "C'mon Sakura! Get yourself together", she thought to herself. She knew that her battle was coming up next and wanted to be mentally prepared for it.

Sakura gasped as she saw her opponent, Ino, in the mirror's reflection.

"Ino". Sakura said while glaring at the platinum blond. "You sure are jumpy, Sakura". She replied. A look of surprise crossed the pinkette's face. "I know why. I mean even Sasuke collapsed and it's probably just because he's so great that it happened. Frankly, I don't even want to imagine what will happen to you when you compete. I think it's best if you quit, don't you? Ino continued.

Sakura pushed her short pink hair back in irritation. "If I can make it through the Forest of Death, I can make it through this", she thought, her confidence growing. "I won't quit, not ever", Sakura said while turning around to look at the blond and walking out of the restroom. "In fact, I can't wait"!

Sakura walked out of the bathroom to her teammates to await the next battle.

"And with that, we begin the fourth battle", Genma said before coughing into his fist. The screen flickered as names flashed across the front at a rapid pace before landing on Sakura vs Ino.

Sakura gasped. She had known the next battle would be hers but she hadn't anticipated her opponent to be Ino. The pinkette bit her lip in confusion before jumping off the platform and into the arena.

A long pause enveloped the arena as the ex-best friends glared at each other hatefully. "I never thought I'd fight you, or I at least didn't think that it would happen this soon. But don't expect me to go easy on you", spat Ino. Sakura ignored the blond in favor of tightening and untightening her fists repeatedly.

"Begin"! Genma shouted.

The two ran at each other. Sakura threw a kick aimed at Ino's face but the blond ducked under it sending her own fist flying back at her abdomen. Sakura jumped back and pulled three kunai from her pouch and jumped up, launching them at Ino.

Ino dodged the first kunai then threw her own to deflect the other two. Sakura smirked then dashed at Ino throwing a few kicks and punches at Ino. The blond dodged all of them and threw a punch hitting her in the stomach.

Sakura's eyes popped open in surprise, and spittle flew from her mouth. Sakura did a back handspring away from Ino and wiped the residue from her lip. "Alright, Listen up Ino. I'm not going to fight with you over Sasuke"! She yelled while clenching her fists. "What did you say"? Ino asked, surprised. "I'm not the weak needy girl I used to be. You're not even on my radar and you not Sasuke's type Ino-pig"! Sakura screamed. "Sakura, you better watch your step. Do you have any idea who your mouthing off to? You better not mess with me you little billboard brow"! Ino retorted.

Sakura paused. "So I'm a bud that hasn't flowered huh"? She asked with a frown. "Well, it's about time to bloom isn't it"?

Ino flew at Sakura, throwing her fists at her. Sakura dodged and countered with a swift kick to Ino's side, sending her crashing to the ground. Ino got back up and spat at the ground.

"This isn't how it's supposed to go! How can you be evenly matched with me? Ino screamed. Sakura huffed. "I guess you're right Ino. Your obsession with your looks and your hair is your fault. I've been training too hard to think about that stuff. Sakura said.

Ino clenched her teeth and let out a growl while pulling a kunai from its holster and clenching it tightly in her hand. "You're gonna pay for that! I've had enough of you making fun of me"! She yelled. Ino slowly raised a kunai to her ponytail, slicing the long tendrils off. Sakura watched with wide eyes as the sleek strands fell lightly to the ground.

"See"? Ino screamed. "I don't need this! Alright, I'll put an end to this right now", Ino said while putting her hands in formation. Ino thrust her hands out from her chest to stretch out in front of her with her fingertips touching. "Mind transfer ju-". Ino was cut off by Sakura jumping to the side and throwing a barrage of kunai at the unsuspecting Ino.

Ino tried to jump back but one of the Sakura's kunai embedded itself deep into her side. Ino clutched her side in pain while trying to get the blood to stop. "I- I'm going to kill you"! Ino roared pulling out her last kunai and charging at Sakura with one hand still clutching her side.

Sakura easily dodged the kunai being swiped at her. She knew Ino was running out of energy due to the blood loss if the trail of blood she was making was any indication.

Smirking, Sakura threw out her leg, catching Ino's stomach sending her flying onto the floor. The blond gasped at the pain searing through her side before getting back up and spitting out the blood in her mouth. Ignoring her dizziness, she charged at Sakura again.

Sakura went to kick Ino in the side again but the blond angled her kunai down, slashing Sakura's leg from her upper thigh to her knee cap. Blood poured from the wound as Sakura grunted in pain.

Sakura's legs buckled and she keeled over, gasping. Slowly, Sakura stood back up, putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg.

Ino panted and fell to one knee. Sakura knew she had no fight left in her judging by the blood soaking her clothing.

Seeing this, Genma walked over, checked Ino, and then declared Sakura the winner.

**End Flashback**

Sakura sat at one of the tables inside the dango shop, sipping on a cup of tea and munching on dango. She didn't know what to do. It was already a week into the training period of the finals and she still didn't have a trainer. Sakura sighed. "What am I going to do"…

* * *

Sakura sighed to herself as she took a sip of chamomile tea in her hands. She'd bought it in the hopes that it would calm her nerves. She held the small cup in both hands under her chin and lightly smiled at the warmth it gave off under her chin.

She hated Kakashi for not having time for her She hated Sasuke for not loving her. She hated Naruto for being better than her. She hated...herself. She hated that she wasn't strong enough. She hated how she looked. She hated...everything about herself.

Sakura pulled a kunai from the little light brown pouch she keeps on her waist and studied it between her fingers. Stabbing it into the table, she watched how shallow it actually went in. The pinkette knew that had it been anyone else, it would have gone in much further. Sakura frowned and set her head on the table in sadness.

The pinkette jumped at the small chime the door makes when it is opened, dropping her tea cup onto the table. Sakura jumped up from the table hissing as the hot tea spilt onto her lap. "Damn it", she cursed under her breath as she took a few napkins and dabbed at her red dress.

"Ya know a lil' squirt shouldn't be cussin right"? Sakura looked up and glared at the purple-haired Jounin. "So, what's it to you"? Sakura asked, her KI intensifying.

The purple-haired woman smirked stuck her gloved hand out, completely ignoring the pinkette's question. "The names Anko and I couldn't help but talk to you after watching the shit job you did fighting blondie", she said, smiling steadily growing larger.

Sakura looked at the Jounin and was completely sure her face would split in two if her snake-like smile grew anymore. "I uh, my names Sak-", she was cut off by the brash purple-haired woman cutting her off. "Yeah, yeah squirt. I know exactly who you are".

Sakura looked down at the still tea covered table and started to wipe it with a few napkins from the dispenser next to her. "So what did you want"? she asked politely. Anko moved to sit down on the chair across from where Sakura was sitting and replied, "Well I couldn't help but notice that you don't have a jounin willing to help train you". Sakura was about to interrupt but was silenced by Anko's hand.

"And I would like to be the one to teach you. I know you have potential somewhere in that pink lil' head of yours". She continued. Sakura looked up at Anko, her heartwarming. She had never really had anyone praise her for her ninja skills. Kakashi spent most if not all his time training Naruto and Sasuke. She knew that she was nowhere near their level.

Anko, sensing her melancholy thoughts put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop that kid", she said. "You will improve...Under my tutelage anyway". Sakura shrugged Anko's hand off her shoulder and looked up at the woman. "So when do we start Sensei"?

  
  
  



	2. The Purple Menace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As I repost, I'm starting to realize that my chapter titles were a mess way back then LOL

Anko, sensing her melancholy thoughts put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop that kid", she said. "You will improve...Under my tutelage anyway". Sakura shrugged Anko's hand off her shoulder and looked up at the woman. "So when do we start Sensei"?

A few uncomfortable moments passed with the purple-haired nin peering sharply down on Sakura. “Why, now of course”! She chirped, a cherry smile covering her face. 

With that Anko abruptly stood up, reaching across the table to grip a small, pale hand into her own much larger one. “Onwards”!

Slapping a yen notes onto the table, the two dashed off.

* * *

Running across the rooftops, the mismatched pair finally arrived at their destination. Sakura looked up from her feet, eyes scanning around the area.

The location was familiar. It was the same old training grounds she had been to multiple times. A small smile graced her lips as she continued to stare, mind focused on the bittersweet memories of her and her teammates.

“So this is it”. The Pinkette said as she took a few steps forward. “What exactly did you have in mind for me? I’m so far behind, I’m not really sure where to start”. Sakura looked back down at her sandal-clad feet, a melancholy look on her face.

Anko looked at her, smile still ever-present. “Well, since you asked so nicely”. She trailed off with a giggle. She reached into the long pocket of her trench coat and ripped out two long packages and tossed them towards Sakura.

The packages landed with a thud in front of her, creating two melon-sized crates in the ground. Sakura’s mouth gapped as she looked at the packages. “What uh, what could possibly be inside of those”? She asked carefully.

Anko chuckled again. “Well, why don’t you take a look pinky”?

Sakura’s brow twitched at the nickname, but otherwise, she made no comment. Reaching a slim-hand down, she prodded at the odd package. The plain brown packaging was rock solid under her touch.

Sighing, she began to rip it off, sending brown paper flying in all directions. When she finished, she stared down confusingly at what lie on the ground.

It appeared to be some kind of clothing item. Where it went, she had no clue. The tan of the cloth clashed with the dirt and she inwardly cringed at how she thought it would look against her pale skin.

“Ano”. She asked. “What is this”?

Pointing a finger towards the odd objects Anko began “those are weights. The set before you are meant to go around your ankles, the other is meant to go around your biceps”.

Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath before continuing on. “During your fight with Ino, I couldn’t help but notice that your speed is sub-par. Considering your small stature, I was quite surprised that someone like you was so slow”.

Anko took a couple of steps toward the pinkette and reached down to clutch the smaller weights in her hands. “These ones go around your biceps”. She stated. “The purpose of this set is the same as the other one, to increase speed and power via resistance”. 

She reached over, placing both sets in place. Sakura grunted under the weight of them. “Okay, I understand that much but-”. She stopped and shrugged, grimacing at how her muscles shook under the added pressure. “How exactly am I supposed to do anything else”?!

* * *

Hours passed and a certain pink-haired genin lie panting heavily on the ground, no longer caring how the dirt soiled her pretty dress and mussed her once flawless short locks.

She had been running laps around the training field under the sadistic Jounin’s watchful eye for the better part of the evening. Every time she would slow down even the slightest amount, the purple-haired menace would throw a senbon at her, forcing her to either pick up her speed or risk getting stabbed.

Anko smiled down at her tired apprentice. “I’m proud of your progress, but I can see we have quite a bit of work to do. I want you to go home and get some sleep. Be here tomorrow at sunrise. And don’t be late”!

With that, she disappeared in a flourish of leaves.

Sakura sighed to herself and slowly picked herself up off the ground, brushing away stray dirt off of the front of her dress.

Her limbs ached something fierce. She had never trained so hard in her life. She had never had a reason to. The only reason she had continued on in the academy was her obsession with one raven haired Uchiha.

If she were to be honest with herself, everything she had done up to this point was for him. And what thanks had she gotten? None. She had been called annoying, she had been ignored, and frankly, she was tired of it.

But what reason did she have now? Sakura sighed to herself. Her life was consumed with a certain Uchiha and now, well now she was lost. 

Tears poured down her pale face as she wallowed in her new-found emptiness.  _ What purpose do I have now? Why am I here? Why am I so useless? _

The pinkette raised a hand to wipe off the tears, but they just kept flowing as the overwhelming feeling of helplessness shook her to her very core.

* * *

Off in the distance, two pairs of eyes watched the young girl.

“Thank you, Anko. I didn’t have the time to do this”. A dull voice said as he stared lazily at the pinkette.

Next to him, Anko bristled. “Of course, she needed this. It’s not like she was going to get assistance from anyone else”. She bit back.

The man sighed, pulling out a small orange book and flipped through the pages. “No, you’re right. Trust I had my reasons, Anko”. He said.

Anko clenched her fists at her sides. “Reasons”? She asked sardonically. “What reasons could there possibly be to leave a little girl, a little girl entrusted to you, to die out here, Kakashi”?

The silver-haired Jounin continued to flip through his book. “Leave her to die, you say”. He stopped and looked upwards, through the thick branches of the trees towards the clear sky. “We all have our part to play Anko, and mine, unfortunately, didn’t involve helping her”.

Blood trickled down from the woman’s hands where sharp nails had punctured pale flesh. Gritting her teeth in anger she began “Coming from the man who trained under the Fourth Hokage’, I’m shocked at you”. She growled out. “We all have our parts to play..” She chuckled sadly. “ If that part involves leaving someone innocent defenseless in a dark world like ours, I refuse to play that part”.

The silver-haired man bristled next to her. “You don’t understand, the council-”

“-Can rot for all I care”. She interrupted. “Fix yourself, Kakashi. The man I once knew would not do this to her”.

With that, Anko disappeared in a whirl of leaves, leaving her companion to stare off at the clear sky in deep thought.

He closed his one visible eye and lowered his head. Opening his eye, he looked at the pinkette cry her heart out into the dirt. But for once, he wasn’t just looking at her, he took a moment to take all that was Sakura in.

“I’m sorry”. He whispered to no-one as he too disappeared off in a whorl of leaves. 


	3. The Real Training Begins

He closed his one visible eye and lowered his head. Opening his eye, he looked at the pinkette cry her heart out into the dirt. But for once, he wasn’t just looking at her, he took a moment to take all that was Sakura in.

“I’m sorry”, he whispered to no-one as he too disappeared off in a whirl of leaves.

* * *

The cold morning wind tousled Sakura’s short locks as she slowly made her way to the training grounds. The pinkette groaned to herself as she anticipated what the sadistic trench coat clad Jounin had planned for her for the day.

On the outside, Sakura looked like she had attempted to fight a bear, and lost. Pale skin, lost its vibrancy, dark bags marked otherwise flawless skin, and her gait had lost the feminine sway it normally had.

She groaned to herself again as she finally approached the training ground. Her limbs hurt something fierce. She honestly had no idea how people like Gai-sensei and Lee wore these weights all the time. She felt like she was one step from physically having her limbs fall off.

As she approached, the purple-haired Jounin waved with a huge grin on her face.

_ Isn’t it a little bit too early to be smiling like that?  _ She thought to herself, more than a little off-put.

Waving back, she walked up to stand next to her sensei. Arms crossed over her chest, shoulders squared, and a false look of alertness on her tired-looking face.

“What exactly do you have planned for me today”? She asked. Inwardly, she cringed at the question, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.

Anko’s grinned widened. “Well, my hands are actually tied today”. She said, grin morphing into a small pout. “I know that you have good chakra control which sets you up primarily for two paths: Genjutsu user, or medical corps. Unfortunately, I am not either of those and Kurenai-chan is busy with that bug kid”.

Sakura’s face morphed into a puzzled expression as she shifted her feet. “So you’re telling me that you don’t have anything to offer me”? She inquired.

Anko grunted in the negative. “Eh, I never said that pinky. I know some genjutsu. Just nothing on the same level as what Kurenai could teach you. This just means that things will be a bit harder for us, nee. I can teach you theory, and some things outside of the box. The rest, no matter what you choose, you’ll just have to learn on your own”.

The genin wiped a hand over her face tiredly. “Great, more self-teaching. Because it worked so well before” she whined.

Anko reached over and smacked her sharply on the back of the head, causing her to jolt. “Hey”! She shouted sharply.

“You aren’t self-teaching yourself necessarily, you idiot. I said I would guide you, didn’t I? Now, enough of this chit chat. Let’s get to work”! She shouted cheerily clapping her hands in front of her.

Anko took a few steps back, plopping herself down on a small boulder behind her, and made herself comfortable. Pulling out a stick of dango, she took a bite before continuing. “So we’ve already established that you have good chakra control, yes”? She asked.

Sakura nodded her head in affirmation.

“Alrighty then. While this may be the case, during your battle with that Ino brat, I noticed that the both of you tire out after using only a few low-level jutsu. So today we are going to work on increasing your chakra reserves. This is something that takes a lifetime of doing, so don’t expect miracles by the time finals roll around”.

Sakura put her hand up and asked “Okay, but how does one go about increasing their chakra reserves”?

Anko shook her head sadly.  _ Aren’t these kids taught anything worthwhile? _ She thought to herself.

“I am  _ so _ very glad you asked”, she said sarcastically. “Your chakra reserves can be increased through building the two types of energy in your body. The first type is physical energy. You started to build that the moment you put on those weights. The second type is spiritual energy. This is done through meditation, which is where your homework-”

A sharp groan interrupted her lecture. Anko glared at her, effectively shutting the pinkette up. 

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted...This is where your homework comes in. I want you to meditate twice a day in two separate hour-long intervals. Every day that passes I want you to add an additional ten minutes to both sets. This does two things, it increases your spiritual energy and also helps you learn self-discipline”.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her as if to say ‘I am the embodiment of self-discipline’.

Anko took another bite out of her dango stick before flicking it at Sakura, hitting her square in the forehead. “Oi, don’t look at me like that pinky. It’s well known how little self-discipline you have. We’ve all seen how you treat your teammates...Speaking of which…”. She trailed off.

Sakura at least had the grace to look slightly embarrassed as her face flushed an attractive light shade of pink.

Anko’s stare suddenly turned sharp and she focused a moderate amount of Killing Intent at the genin. Sakura took a quick step back, tripping over stray pebbles, and fell straight onto her butt.

Her voice dropped a few octaves as Anko growled out “No more of that hitting your teammates bullshit. And no more fawning over the other, got it”?

Sakura nodded her head enthusiastically.

Anko clapped her hands in front of her with a wide smile on her face. Sakura was beginning to notice a pattern here. “Good”! She said cheerily. “Anyway, I have another gift for you”. She pulled a rectangular box, no bigger than the size of her forearm, out from one of the pockets of her trench coat and tossed it at her.

Sakura caught the box clumsily in her hands and yanked the top off. Inside lie two silver scalpels. She looked up at the jounin with a puzzled expression on her face. 

Anko just continued to smile. “Next week, we will focus on ninjutsu, this week our focus is armed combat and taijutsu. Specifically with those scalpels”.

Anko reached over and plucked one of them out of the box. “You see, medics are more dangerous than they are made out to be. Not only do they have a large understanding of poisons, but because of their in-depth understanding of how the body works, they can use something as unassuming as these to inflict a deadly amount of damage on their enemies.

The jounin handed the scalpel back to her, and Sakura took it into her hand, studying the small tool carefully. “If you inject your chakra into that blade, it increases in size, sort of like how Asuma-san’s works. However, unlike his, yours is meant to inflict a large amount of damage in a small area of impact, got it”? She asked. 

Sakura nodded. “But how am I supposed to do that without knowledge of which areas are the most deadly”? She asked.

“That’s where the hospital comes in. After training today and meditation, I have arranged for you to meet a friend of mine there. They will start you on medical lessons. It’s up to you to learn as much as you can from them. While I can teach you how to wield those weapons, I can’t teach you the whys and hows if you know what I mean”.

Sakura nodded. “Alright”. Pulling both out of the box, she dropped the package to the ground and got into battle position, a serious look on her face.

Anko smiled and jumped off the boulder, pulling her own weapon of choice out. The two katars glistened in the morning sunlight as she charged at the genin. And with that, the battle had officially begun.

_ I hope you’re ready Sakura. This may only be the beginning, and I know we don’t have much time. But if I can teach you enough to survive in this world, then I have slowly begun to atone for my own sins. _ Anko thought to herself.  _ Make me proud. _


	4. No one said it'd be easy...

_I hope you’re ready Sakura. This may only be only the beginning, and I know we don’t have much time. But if I can teach you enough to survive in this world, then I have slowly begun to atone for my own sins._ _Make me proud._

* * *

The sparring session, while fairly short, was quite brutal on the pinkette. Her legs shook in pain as she struggled to stay up on her feet. Her arms fared no better, as they too shook in an abysmal attempt to keep the scalpels in twin, tight grips.

Looking down at the pinkette, a small smirk graced her lips. Anko was quite proud of how her little Genin was faring for it only being the second day of training. While it’s true that her progress was minimal. The resilience she had shown was quite astounding, to say the least.

“Alright, alright,” she said as she slowly lowered her own weapons and placed them inside the confines of her tan trench coat. “That’s enough of that for the day”.

Skipping over to the boulder she sat on earlier that day, she plopped back down onto it. “Now it’s time to meditate.”

Bending over, Sakura picked the small box up off the ground and put her scalpels back inside of it. She knew that she would have to get a case for them soon if she didn’t want to carry the brown box around everywhere.

With a slight limp in her step, she dragged herself over next to the boulder and sat down with her legs crossed in front of her.

“You know how to meditate, right?” Anko asked.

Sakura shook her head in response.

The purple-haired nin’ shook her head and sighed. “Don’t they teach y'all anything”? She asked sarcastically. “No worries, you have me! Just place your hands together in front of you and close your eyes”.

Sakura inhaled and did what her Sensei said.

“Alright, now focus on the spot about an inch down from your navel. You should start to feel a warm feeling spread from that point all throughout your body”.

The warm feeling that spread put Sakura at ease. It felt sort of like a warm embrace, but instead of only feeling the arms around your middle, it felt like she was being embraced from the inside out.

“Now, I want you to hold on to that feeling. You have two hours”.

And with that, the mismatched duo began to meditate the stresses of the days training away.

* * *

The walk to the hospital passed by uneventfully. She wasn’t surprised, really. Konoha was enjoying peacetime. 

Walking in through the double door opening, she was immediately greeted by a friendly looking receptionist. 

The woman had long brown hair that was swept up into a neat looking ponytail. Her pale complexion complimented the freckles that dotted her high nose and cheekbones. If Sakura were being honest with herself, she was quite jealous of how beautiful the woman was.

“What can I help you with today?” the receptionist asked sweetly.

The baritone voice shocked Sakura as her mouth gaped open.  _ Could it be….that that is a man??? _

“Uhh”, she said, not so eloquently. “I need to see a Takahashi Reo, please”.

The receptionist bared their teeth in a bright smile. “Sure thing miss…?” 

“Haruno”. 

“Ah, yes. Haruno-san. I’m Reji. Reo will be waiting for you just down the hall to the left. Don’t hesitate to holler if you need”.

Sakura smiled and waved goodbye as she hastily made her way down the hall. She wondered what would be in store for her today. Perhaps they would teach her how to bring people back from the dead, or even how to explode people’s organs!

_ That would be so cool!  _ She thought to herself.  _ Watch people try to beat me! _

Approaching the door, she reached out a pale hand and knocked gently. When she got no response, she decided to just walk in.

The room was…..well, quite unexpected, to say the least. For one, there was barely any lighting. Two, there were books scattered around everywhere. 

Standing in the corner, a man stepped out of the shadows with a grim look on his face. He was dressed in the standard medical ninja attire and seemed to have no weapons on him. 

“Uh, hello?” Sakura greeted a bit unsure. “Are you Reo-san?” 

The man walked towards her, stopping once he stood but a few inches away. 

He couldn’t have been more than an inch or two taller than her...but still, Sakura had never felt so small in her life. The way he was looking at her, sizing her up as if he wanted to eat her made her want to bolt out of the door as fast as she could.

Still, she held her ground, teeth gritted and a determined look on her face.

Suddenly, he took a step back and grinned violently at her, all traces of malice gone from his gaunt features. 

“Ah, you must be Sakura-san”.” He said “Welcome”.

The pinkette offered him a small smile. 

“Sooo”, she trailed off. “What’s on the agenda”.

A sinister smile suddenly took over his face as he rubbed his hands together evilly.

“I am oh so very glad you asked Sa-ku-ra,” he said, making sure to drag her name out. Some light reading material for today”.

He then reached a hand out to point at a large stack of books in the corner. “We will start with that for today”.

Sakura hastily walked over to the stack and sat down seiza on the floor before taking the first book off the stack.  _ Well, here goes nothing. _


	5. Reo

The sun set, bathing a certain pinkette in its rays. She lie in sprawled out in the corner, head resting peacefully against an open book that sat on her lap. A small pile of drool spilled out of pink lips onto the waiting pages, creating a small pool of saliva.

Reo sat reading his own textbook on the floor. He had decided to make himself comfortable on the opposite side of the room. He knew that his presence made her uncomfortable...He has always seemed to have had that effect on people. As to avoid distracting her from her studies, he had decided to stay away for the time being. 

Looking up from his textbook, he studied the pinkette. Clearly, the girl had been training that morning was evident by her battered frame and the leaf sticking out of her hair. Furthermore, the box that she allowed to rest comfortably by her side was seemed to be leaking chakra. It had seemed like someone had given her a weapon that she could inject chakra into but no one showed her how to pull it back out.

_ Jeez, no wonder she’s so damn tired. _ He mused to himself.

Picking himself off the floor, he brushed the white layers of his uniform, careful to make sure no dust had stuck to the otherwise pristine clothing.

Walking over to her, he slowly bent down. Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sakura-san,” he spoke softly. “Time to go”.

No response.

Reo frowned to himself. That training must have been fairly brutal if she wasn’t reacting to his voice or touch. After all, it was one of the first things taught to young ninja at the academy; to be alert at all times.

Pulling his hand off her shoulder, he slowly extended an index finger to her forehead, placing it square in the middle. A dull blue cloud of chakra sprouted out from the tip and plunged into her forehead.

The technique he was using was one of the first things taught to any medical ninja. By examining the chakra pathways, one could see if any of the points were disrupted. If any were, it would signal a high possibility of damage in the area.

A few moments passed of him examining her chakra network. While faint, nothing seemed to be off. She was just suffering from a mild form of chakra exhaustion. Sighing himself, he allowed the chakra to dissipate and he resigned himself to his fate.

With an exaggerated grunt, he picked her up in his arms bridal style. He paused for a moment, biting his cheek in thought before reaching down and carefully grabbing one of the scrolls off the ground and placing it on top of her body.

_ Well.  _ He thought to himself.  _ Now to ask Anko where she lives. Sigh… _

* * *

The morning rays woke Sakura from her slumber. She went to reach a hand up to wipe at tired eyes before immediately dropping it with a groan.  _ Ugh! That Hurts!! _

A few moments passed as she just lie there, wanting to do anything but get up off her nice and comfortable pink bed. Turning her head to the side, she gazed out the window. 

_ The weather sure looks nice today...And the sun feels nice. _

_ Wait….The sun. THE SUN!! _

Feeling a sudden burst of energy, she flung herself out of bed. Anko had told her to meet at sunrise. Not only that, but she wouldn’t have time to meditate that morning.  _ Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, _

Looking down, she realized she was still in her grungy ninja attire from yesterday.  _ Thank Kami-Sama for small miracles.  _ She thought to herself as she quickly ran to the bathroom. Looking around, she spotted a loose hairband on the counter. She swiped it and tied her hair up in a short ponytail. Nodding to herself in the mirror, she went to leave.

She abruptly stopped when she noticed a green….thing sticking up out of her hair. Reaching back, she grasped it in pale fingers before tossing it to the ground.  _ Ewwww.  _

Checking herself in the mirror a final time, she made her way out of the door, yelling goodbyes to her mother and father as she went.

* * *

Anko was not happy. No, that was the understatement of the year. She was downright pissed. Why, you may ask. Well, because her sweet little pink-haired Genin was late to her third day of training. 

Chuckling to herself angrily, she wondered just what type of creative punishment she could whip up for the Genin. Evilly, she rubbed her hands together, a dark look on her face.

It was at that moment that Sakura showed up for practice. A crushing amount of killing intent was rolling off the Jounin, causing her to freeze in her spot.

“And pray tell Sa-ku-ra,” she growled out, head lolling to either side as she dragged out her name. “Just why are you late this fine morning”?

Her mouth opened and closed, kind of making her resemble a fish as she floundered for an adequate response.

Suddenly, two ANBU members arrived at the scene. One decorated in a rooster mask and the other in a tiger one. Both had two kunai at the ready. 

A moment passed as they examined the situation.

The tiger one started to laugh hysterically, as he doubled over holding her stomach. “Ah Anko-chan…,” She trailed off still laughing. Slowly the laughs die out and she collected herself. “You need to calm down, you KI…” she giggled again. “Your KI alerted us to your area”.

She then turned to the pinkette. “I dunno’ what you did, but you probably shouldn’t do that again unless you want us to show up again”, she said as she gestured to herself and the rooster ANBU.

“U-uh”, she said, still quite startled and a bit scared if she were being honest with herself. “Y-yeah, s-sure”.

With that, both ANBU nodded to her before disappearing off in a shroud of leaves

Honestly, ANBU showing up was like a spell. Anko seemed to have forgotten that she was late.

“So Pinky, did you do your meditating this morning?” She asked.

“Ano...you see…” Sakura gulped.

“Nee, Sakura-chan. I do see”, she said as a sinister smile took over her face. “I want meditation done immediately, then ten laps around the village. After that we’ll start your training today”.

Sakura groaned.


	6. The Next Stage

Honestly, ANBU showing up was like a spell. Anko seemed to have forgotten that she was late.

“So Pinky, did you do your meditating this morning?” She asked.

“Ano...you see…” Sakura gulped.

“Nee, Sakura-chan. I do see”, she said as a sinister smile took over her face. “I want meditation done immediately, then ten laps around the village. After that we’ll start your training today”.

Sakura groaned.

* * *

The first week passed without a hitch and Sakura had made ample progress utilizing her new chakra scalpels. Yesterday, she had finally learned how to increase and decrease the size of them at will without expending too much extra chakra.

On top of that, her taijutsu and brute strength had improved significantly as a result of the heavy weights on both her calves and biceps. Anko had not gone easy on her. Sakura wasn’t surprised though, Sensei was a firm believer in giving her all one-hundred percent of the time.

The one area she still hadn’t seen much improvement in though, was in increasing her chakra reserves. This is not to say that the meditating wasn’t working, however. There was an increase, it just wasn’t substantial. She still had very small chakra reserves for a ninja.

The time she spent with Reo-sensei was nice though. There she continued to pour over scroll after scroll. Once she realized how helpful the scary man’s teaching was, she jumped at every opportunity she was given. Whenever she got frustrated with things, she ran over to the hospital to visit him on top of going straight after training with Anko. As a matter of fact, she had been there so often over the week, many of the occupants at the hospital knew her by name and didn’t hesitate to greet her with a smile and wave...or even a hug in Rejo-san’s case.

Honestly, the hospital was becoming her favorite place to be...Well, besides the training grounds with Anko. She always felt like she was worth something when she was there with her.

Overall, she was quite proud of her progress. However, she knew that she could, no she had to, continue to strive to get better. She knew that she was nowhere near the level Naruto and Sasuke were at. If she were to have any hope facing off against either of them in the coming Chunin exam finals, she had to get better- and quickly too.

_ Still…  _ She mused sadly.  _ It seems almost impossible. To make-up years of work in less than a month. With only two weeks left, what can I possibly hope to achieve? _

SMACK!

Sakura swiftly jumped away, gloved hands raised to rub at the now sore spot on the top of their head. “OUCH”! She yelled, face contorted in a grimace. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR”?

“OI”! Anko yelled back, voice just as loud. “HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR SENSEI, PINKY”!

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO HIT ME”!

“SHOULD’VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION THEN, NEE BRAT”?

Sakura crossed pale arms across her chest with an angry ‘hmph’.

“Yeah, yeah”. She pouted. “What’s next anyway? The first weeks up, Sensei”.

Anko shook her head dramatically, a glum look on her painted face. “Jeez, it’s like you damn kids are hard of hearing or something”, she said with an exaggerated sigh. “I already told you last week, ninjutsu brat. Ninjutsu”.

Sakura nodded her head. “Alright”.

“Come sit”, she said, waving the pinkette over. “Before we begin any of that though, I have a small story to tell. No interrupting, got it pinky”?

Sakura frowned but otherwise said nothing with a nod of her head. She then walked over and sat seiza on the plush, green grass, hands laying folded on her lap.

“Great, glad you're on board”, she said, plopping down with her legs crossed in front of her. 

Taking a deep breath, she began: “Believe it or not, I started off the same as you- the only female sorted into a three-man squad. However unlike you, I wasn’t dead last”. 

Sakura flushed at this, looking down at her clasped hands sitting in her lap.

“Also like you, I had a powerful Sensei. His name was Orochimaru-”.

-GASP!

“HEY! I SAID NO INTERRUPTING! Now, judging by that gasp, you know who he is….Or at least have an idea. So I won’t bore you with the sordid details. Anyway… Long story short, he sort of took me under his wing, teaching me things he wouldn’t dare teach anyone else. Things were fine and dandy before he gave me this”.

Anko reached a hand up, pulling the high collar of her trench coat away to reveal the pale expanse of her neck.

Sakura stared, eyes bulging wide. “T-thats.... Thats…”.

“Yeah”, she nodded. “The same mark Sasuke has. We’ve both been tainted by that man, for his own greed and selfish desire for power…”, she trailed off, a sad yet far away look on her face. 

Sakura suddenly jumped up, hands clenched at her sides. Anko looked up at her surprised at the sudden movement. She gazed at her student with a questioning look.

Sakura gritted her teeth, eyes watering before she stared at Anko straight in the eye. “Sensei...”, she spoke. Voice shaky, yet determined. “I swear, I’ll stop him! I’ll do it if it’s the last thing I do”!

“Tch”, Anko replied. “You think it’s that easy? To kill a Sanin”? She asked sarcastically while slowly standing to her feet to look down at the pinkette. “You think that just because I spill my sob story that you, an insignificant little Genin, can fix Orochimaru’s little cast-away toy”?

Anko chuckled darkly. “No…..That’s not it. You want to fix his shiny new toy, nee? Your little Uchiha? And here I thought you were changing Sa-ku-ra”.

“YOU’RE WRONG”! Sakura screamed, stepping into the Jounin’s space, fists still clutched tightly at her sides. “I-I have to do this”! She looked down, tears in her Emerald-colored eyes. “I-I won’t lie...I still have feelings for Sasuke….Those feelings...are not a priority. I know they hold me back, make me weak…”.

Sakura looked back up at her, taking a steadying breath. “You’ve done so much for me...and I….And I want to do this. I have to. To prove myself. Not only to you, but to myself, and to my teammates. I will avenge you both...I will become strong. I will only be strong when I can do it….That’s my priority now…”.

Anko stared down at Sakura, hard eyes softening. Slowly she untensed her muscles, reaching a hand down to rest gently on pink locks. “Sakura...I promise, here and now, that you are my priority. We will make your dream happen”. Lifting her hand up, she brushed away a stray lock of purple hair out of her own eyes. “I am proud of who you’re becoming”.

_ Besides. _ Anko thought. _ It’s not like you’ve been anyone’s priority before. I wonder... _

Tears streamed down Sakura’s cheeks as she stared up at Anko in awe. “R-really”? She asked.

“Yes, brat….Now no more or this sappy shit. We have work to do”! She said with a shit-eating grin.

Scrubbing the tears off her face, she offered a watery smile and nodded enthusiastically. “Y-yes”!

Anko looked up at the sky, a smile still on her face.  _ Good luck brat, you’re gonna need it if you ever dream to stop Orochimaru. There’s only so much I can do… But, I see potential in you. Potential in you I never had. Potential of the heart and spirit. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to do what I couldn’t. _

Her smile broadened, almost the point of pain.  _ Maybe… But, I promise you now Sakura. I will do everything in my power to help you attain your goal. Now, it’s just up to you to take my help to heart. _


	7. The Next Step- Ninjutsu

Scrubbing the tears off her face, she offered a watery smile and nodded enthusiastically. “Y-yes”!

Anko looked up at the sky, a smile still on her face.  _ Good luck brat, you’re gonna need it if you ever dream to stop Orochimaru. There’s only so much I can do… But, I see potential in you. Potential in you I never had. Potential of the heart and spirit. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to do what I couldn’t. _

Her smile broadened, almost the point of pain.  _ Maybe… But, I promise you now Sakura. I will do everything in my power to help you attain your goal. Now, it’s just up to you to take my help to heart. _

* * *

“Alright, pinky! Listen up! This is where things start to get too spicy for the pepper”! Anko yelled as she paced back and forth in short strides excitedly.

Sakura looked up at her Sensei, a perplexed look on her face. “Err….Okay”?

“Well, we’ve already established that you’re a genjutsu type. So, we’ll start there. Unfortunately, Kurenai is still too busy to help us today, so you’ll just have to make do with me”. She said flashing a bright grin.

Sakura nodded. “Okay, where do we begin”?

“Well”, Anko started. “Do you know what genjutsu is”?

She nodded again. “A genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses”.

“Correct! So then you also know Genjutsu can also be used to manipulate others - similar to brainwashing - by feeding the victim illusive suggestions, nee”?

“Yes, I am aware”, Sakura replied.

“Good, that means we don’t have to waste time on technical theory”. Suddenly Anko paused, raising a hand to rest on her chin in thought. “Say, do you know how to dispel a Genjutsu”? She asked offhandedly.

“Ah, no. I don’t.” She replied, rubbing awkwardly at her neck.

“Alrighty then, we’ll start there”, Anko said, finish with a swift clap of her hands. “A victim's chakra flow, if disrupted enough, can break the caster's influence. This is ultimately how it is dispelled. Second, Pain that is not caused by the genjutsu can bring victims back to their senses”. 

She began. “To counter genjutsu before it is cast, one must simply obstruct the caster’s vision. You can also hold something strong such as Chilli Pepper Bombs under your nose. The strong nature of the scent naturally focuses your brain away from the illusion and onto the scent… With me still”?

“Yes, Sensei”.

“Good, then I am going to throw a minor genjutsu at you, and I want you to dispel it using the chakra disruption method”.

With that, Anko took a few steps away before placing her hands together. Sakura’s eyes widened as she tried to follow the lightning-fast speed that the Jounin’s hands were going at as they formed the necessary seals.

“Woah”, she said in wonder as Anko smirked. 

“Focus”, Anko sharply reprimanded as she finished. “Genjutsu Art: Binding”!

Suddenly, Sakura’s limbs froze. Fear overtook her form as she began to shake. “W-what”? She stuttered. “W-why can’t I move”?

In a flash on leaves, Anko appeared behind her, ample chest to back. Sakura internally grimaced as she felt the cold bite of a kunai knife against her exposed throat. 

“Remember Sakura, this is just an illusion. I am, in fact, not actually behind you. But, you are frozen. I have control of your mind. Disrupt my chakra if you want me out”. Anko stated calmly. 

Taking a deep breath, Sakura closed her eyes and gathered up her chakra. After a few moments, she mentally brought it all up it to the center of her chest and pushed. 

At first, nothing happened.  _ C’mon… _ Sakura thought desperately.  _ C’mon… _

“Harder Sakura”, Anko ordered.

Eyes flying open Sakura pushed at the chakra sitting in the center of her chest outward, effectively pushing the other’s chakra out of her system and disrupting it.

Sakura suddenly fell forward to her knees panting deeply. 

“Fantastic job, Saku-chan”! Anko said as she jogged over, placing a hand on her head to ruffle short tresses. “Don’t worry, it’ll get easier as you practice and build your chakra reserves”.

“Heh”, Sakura said panting as she slowly got to her feet. “W-what's next”?

Anko removed her hand to place it on her hip. “Hmmm…”, She drawled. “Now I want you to cast it on me. I’ll teach you a few more genjutsu that I know and then I’ll cast a few on you. After that, we’ll finish up with meditating and off you go to the hospital, nee”? She asked with a smile.

Sakura nodded excitedly.

“We’ll do this for three days. Now, it’s your turn”!

* * *

The next three days passed in a hazy blur. She was constantly drained of her chakra, almost to the brink of absolute exhaustion. However, she trusted Anko. Her Sensei seemed to always know just when she’d had just enough.

Furthermore, her arms and legs were absolutely aching. Whenever she had extra time, which admittedly was very little, she continued to practice with her taijutsu and scalpels. When she wasn’t doing that, she was stealing scrolls from Reo-Sensei and reading them at home.

Well, if she were being honest with herself, she was attempting to read them at home. Nine times out of then, she opened the scroll, read a paragraph or two, then passed out right on top of it.

_ Gods, this cannot be healthy _ . She thought with a pout.

The pinkette was becoming physically and emotionally exhausted.

Still though, she knew that this is where she needed to be. And she had felt an inner sense of peace she had not felt in well….ever. She felt useful...powerful even.

Of course, she knew that she wasn’t powerful yet. Her natural inclination towards Genjutsu because of her superior chakra control allowed her to learn how to do a handful of them quite fast and to dispel even some of the more difficult ones with ease.

However, she just didn’t have the chakra reserves to do all that she wanted to do. She wanted to be able to do more things that required chakra, but she was limited.

_ UGH! THIS SUCKS!  _ She thought as she lie back in bed.  _ If only I was a chakra powerhouse like the others. HMPF! _

She knew this put her at a severe disadvantage. After all what kind of ninja would she be if she couldn’t perform a jutsu? What if her minuscule chakra reserves were the difference between her life and an enemy's life? Or worse, enemies or a comrade's?

_ Guess I’m just gonna have to meditate more. And run more…  _ She thought with a sigh before rising out of bed.  _ Speaking of which… _

Walking over to a small mat in the corner of her room, she sat down to begin her long meditation ritual before training at daybreak.

* * *

“So, what’s next on the agenda”? Sakura asked as she reached her arms out to stretch them.

Anko looked over at the pinkette with a serious look on her face before crouching low on the ground.

Concerned, Sakura took a few steps closer to the Jounin. A slim hand raised towards her direction, palm up halted her movements. “Sensei”? She tried again.

“Today…”, Anko started. “Today is the day I share something with you that my old Sensei shared with me”.

A painted hand disappeared inside the tan confines of her trench coat. After a few moments of scuttling around, she finally pulled out what appeared to be a fairly large-sized scroll.

_ H-how...How did that even fit! _ Sakura thought with a start.

“Now, I know you have low chakra reserves. So don’t use this unless you have no other options, okay”? She said. Anko could see the concern increasing on her student’s face. “I’m serious, I’ll kick your ass Sakura”. She said with a weak chuckle.

“...Okay”.

“Anyway…This is a contract for snake summons. Only two people that I know of hold this contract currently, soon to be three. You, me, and  _ Orochimaru _ ”.

The way Anko spat out Orochimaru’s name made the pinkette shiver.

Placing it on the ground, she unrolled it, showcasing the beautifully scrawled kanji that would allow the pinkette to call on the snakes in her time of need.

“All you need to do is sign your name in blood here”, she said pointing at the third empty line, the line under which read  _ Anko Mitarashi  _ in flowing script. “But before you sign this, know that this contract cannot be terminated. Once signed, it is written in stone. Furthermore, these snakes….are not to be trifled with. Especially the leader, Manda. He won’t hesitate to eat you if he senses weakness. You must earn his respect to earn the respect of the others”.

“Wait”, Sakura started. “So these summons… You’re saying that if I don’t earn their respect, they’ll kill me”?

Anko nodded glumly. “These snakes are cold-blooded. They only care for their own. I rarely use them because they don’t respect me. Hell, they don’t even really respect Orochimaru. They respect the power, but not the man.

Anko took a breath before continuing. “Besides, I see something in you. Inside such a fragile girl, I see a strong woman waiting to break free”.

Sakura smiled at her. “Sensei…”.

“And I know that they’ll see it too. You just have to prove to them that you are strong. That you are worthy of their respect. I think you can do it”.

The pinkette nodded her head. “I’ll do it”. She said with determination. “I will make you proud”.

“I never doubted you for a second”. Anko said with a small, yet sad smile. “Now, you know what to do”.

Walking forwards, Sakura took over Anko’s spot in a crouched position. Raising her thumb to her mouth, she quickly bit into the tender flesh, drawing ruby blood to the surface. Quickly, she jotted her name down.

Sakura waited for something to happen. When nothing did she looked up at her Sensei confused.

“Now all you have to do is say ‘Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu’, push chakra into the palms of your hands, and use this hand sign and a snake will appear. Start small, and build your way up. My guess is you should be able to summon Manda at some point if you try hard enough before the middle of next week”.

“But Sensei”! Sakura said alarmed. “Assuming I succeed by then, that will only give me four days to learn and rest before the finals”!

Anko chuckled. “All the more reason for you to complete this task sooner, nee”? She asked darkly. “Besides, I have a few other jutsu I want to show you up my sleeve before the finals. So please, be a dear and hurry”.

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. Let’s see what I can do”.

Rolling her sleeves up, she took a few steps back to make room. “Alright”, she said determined to get this right on the first try. She took a minute to crack her knuckles before beginning.

Putting her hand in formation, she quickly made the necessary hand seal. “Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu”!

‘POOF’

Both women put an arm up over their eyes for protection as a large cloud of smoke appeared in front of the pink-haired girl. After a few moments, the smoke began to clear and both women uncovered their eyes to look.

“AHAHAHAHAHA” Anko snorted, nearly doubling over in her laughter. “GOD, THAT WAS WORSE THAN MY FIRST! AHAHAHAHA”!

Sakura pouted, turning her head away. “Jeez gimme a break, I’m learnin’ here”!

Looking back at it she couldn’t help but feel disappointment. After all, what was she supposed to do with a damn egg”.

_ Oh gods, just end me already…. _


	8. The Eighth Snake

‘POOF’

Both women put an arm up over their eyes for protection as a large cloud of smoke appeared in front of the pink-haired girl. After a few moments, the smoke began to clear and both women uncovered their eyes to look.

“AHAHAHAHAHA” Anko snorted, nearly doubling over in her laughter. “GOD, THAT WAS WORSE THAN MY FIRST! AHAHAHAHA”!

Sakura pouted, turning her head away. “Jeez gimme a break, I’m learnin’ here”!

Looking back at it she couldn’t help but feel disappointment. After all, what was she supposed to do with a damn egg”.

_ Oh gods, just end me already… _

* * *

Days had passed and Sakura was feeling tired to the point of exhaustion. While she had managed to summon more than just eggs or hatchlings she still couldn’t quite summon a snake that would be decent help in any type of combat situation.

“Sensei”! Sakura panted, tendrils of sweat flowing down her brow into tired eyes. “I can’t! I can’t do it! What am I doing wrong”?!

Anko looked over at the pinkette from her crossed position on the ground, a stick of multi-colored dango in hand. “Eh”? She asked. “What do you mean you ‘can’t do it’”?

Sakura dropped her hands in a defeated manner. “I mean just that. I...I can’t do it. I just don’t have the reserves…I-”.

Anko raised an eyebrow. “So you think you can defeat Orochimaru at some point in the future, but you can’t even summon some wee lil’ snakes”?

Sakura looked down at her sandal-clad feet and sighed defeatedly. “I-”.

“Thoughts like that will get you and your teammates killed you know. Those self-deprecating feelings cause hesitation. Hesitation is what gets ninja like us killed”.

Sakura bit her lip. “I get that but, I just….”. She quickly turned on her heel, taking a few steps away from Anko. “I just have to keep trying, I guess.

“Now that’s the spirit”! Anko cheered, throwing the last empty stick of dango into a nearby shrub.

Sakura offered a watery smile before letting out a deep breath. Putting her hands in the summoning position, she yelled: “Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu”!

‘POOF’

“WHO SUMMONS ME”? A deep voice hissed out through the purple-colored smoke.

Sakura coughed loudly. The large amount of purple smoke was stifling and much thicker than the smoke from any of her previous summonings. 

Sakura looked up. Emerald eyes widened in shock as she stared at the being before her.

The snake was a deep, blood-red in color with off-colored white stripes that seemed to have been lazily painted all along its body. Looking closer, she noticed that it had quite a fair bit of what she assumed was tanned scars littering its body. The white stripes made it hard to tell as the colors blended well.

Its size was much bigger than anything she had managed to summon before, to her surprise. While she knew this snake certainly wasn’t as big as they came, she couldn’t help the feeling of pride that blossomed in her chest. It was longer than Anko-Sensei! Thicker too...

Slitted pearl eyes glared at her from its raised position on the ground.

“Uhhh”, Sakura got out. “I di-”.

“AH, ANKO-CHAN. S-S-SWELL TO S-S-SEE YOU AGAIN”! It hissed.

“Mah, Hachi-san. No need to yell…”. 

“Heh, it’s-s been awhile s-s-since I’ve s-spoken with humans-s… what did you need s-s-sister s-snake”?

“Don’t look at me”, Anko replied while raising a hand to point at Sakura. “She did”.

The snake whirled around. Hard pearl-like eyes studied the pinkette. “HER? SHE LOOKS MORE LIKE A S-SNACK THAN MY S-S-SUMMONER”!

“Please, Hachi-san. Inside voices”. Anko whined.

The snake at least had the sense to look cowed….Well, as cowed as a snake could.

“It’s true”! Sakura interjected. “I summoned you”.

Hachi looked towards Anko with a look that seemed to say 'Is she fucking with me’? Anko shook her head.

“Fine”! It hissed, turning to look back at her. “S-s-so you s-s-s-summoned me. I will not help you, you mere mouse! S-send me back”!

Sakura took a moment to steady herself before, clenching her fists. “No! I summoned you, you leave on my terms”!

Sakura watched out of the corner of her eye as Anko winced. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so confident anymore. “Mah, pinky. Not what I meant by getting them to respect you, ya’ know…”. She trailed off with a breezy chuckle.

Sakura internally gulped but continued to attempt to stare down the snake.

Suddenly, Hachi slithered up to her in the blink of an eye until the two were nose and nose. “You lis-s-sten here hatchling. You will be respectful or I will not hes-s-itate to s-shove my tail s-s-o far down your pitiful throat that it cleaves you in half”! He hissed angrily.

“I am the great Hachi! Eighth son to Manda-sama, the fastest of all the snakes. I will not be dis-s-srepected by s-s-some mere hatchling who doesn’t know its place”!

Sakura grimaced.  _ Its... _

Anko snickered from her position on the ground. “You’re still Manda’s littlest snakelete”. She teased.

Hachi seemed to ignore her in favor of staring down the pinkette.

“Fine”! Sakura bit out. “Then I challenge you”!

Hachi’s face contorted into what Sakura assumed was supposed to be a smirk. “Hah! Challenge me! I won’t debase myself to s-slaughtering s-s-some hatchling”! He haughtily hissed. 

“Now, don’t be rash-”, Anko interjected.

Sakura took a step closer, still staring at him straight in the eyes. Face so close that her nose barely touched the flat end of his. “You fear me then”. She stated lowly, temper rising.

“I s-s-smell your fear”, He hissed simply. “But I accept”.

Anko sighed.  _ Tell me why it would be MY little snake that gets herself in these types of situations. _ She mused internally, fingering a kunai under her trench coat.  _ I have to be prepared, just in case things turn ugly. _

“Alright then”. Sakura said, spinning on her heel and briskly walking over to Anko. Reaching down, she collected her scalpels out of the brown box. “I am ready when you are”. She said, unusually calm voice not betraying the deep fear she felt.

_ I have to win.  _ She thought. She absolutely knew she had to. By beating Hachi, the eighth son of Manda, all other snakes below his rank would defer to her. That would leave her with just...seven other snakes to tame. All with differing specialties.  _ Unless I go straight for Manda- _

“Ready when you are, hatchling”! He taunted.

Anko looked on warily. She knew this could end quite catastrophically.

Sakura hesitated a moment, sizing her opponent up.  _ Alright, I know his specialty- speed. Speed is also my specialty, darn. He’s also had many years more than I have lived to harness his speed….Ugh, can’t rely on that! Hmm...So that leaves me with...the element of surprise. If I vary my attacks, utilizing my knowledge of medical ninjutsu- _

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as the snake swiftly slithered towards her. “Too late”!

In less than a second, he was but mere inches away from her. Hachi swung his tail out, aiming to sweep her off her feet. Sakura dodged, doing a back handspring away from the fast appendage.  _ Shit! That was close….Medical knowledge…..All I know is humans though! Kami-sama... _

_ I could take off my weights… No, not ‘till the finals… _

Pulling chakra to her feet, she dashed to Hatchi swiping a scalpel out towards the snake. He jerked himself back out of the deadly reach of her scalpels before lunging.

Sakura yelped in pain as a sharp fang dug into her skin. Acting fast, she pulled her arm away. The fang tore flesh from its puncture wound on her wrist all the way to her elbow.

Sakura dashed away, raising a hand blue hand up to the injury. She sighed as the chakra slowly knit the torn skin back together.

“You’re lucky I don’t use my venom”, Hatchi snickered, swinging the fat end of his tail back and forth teasingly.

Sakura glared at him. “So you’re holding back then, eh”? She asked.

Hachi made a sound akin to snorting. She noticed as his eyes moved from staring blankly at her face, to zeroing in at her mouth, before moving up to stare at her eyes.

  
  


_ His eyes… He can’t see! Well, that explains the white coloring and lack of visible pupils.  _ She thought.  _ So, he used the sound of my voice to pinpoint where my mouth was and used that general location to look into my eyes. _

Sakura continued to glare at her opponent. H _ mmm, I think I have an idea… _

Reaching a handout, she smacked the tree next to her making a loud ‘SMACK’ resound across the clearing. Hachi’s head snapped toward where her hand had made an impact.

_ Sound! _

Sakura readied her chakra scalpels at her sides before dashing at the snake who bared his fangs menacingly at her.

Once she was but a few meters away, she jumped up into the air, tossing one scalpel a few feet to the left of Hachi.

“I’ve got you now”! He hissed as he darted towards the spot she had thrown her weapon.

“No, you don’t”. She smirked as she landed lightly. 

Hachi only had enough time to turn around in confusion before she pumped chakra into the scalpel, causing it to lengthen until it spanned over two feet.

Pulling her arm back, she launched it.

The scalpel-turned spear flew through the sky, slamming into the flesh of the snake's mouth, effectively pinning its jaws down into the forest floor.

Hachi hissed violently and thrashed trying to get out of the predicament.

Sakura cautiously approached. “Do you concede”? She asked.

The snake continued to thrash for a few moments before finally stopping.

“Flick your tail once if you concede”.

And Hachi did, if reluctantly.

Sakura walked closer, reaching a pale had down to grasp the spear before tearing it out and setting it down gently.

Reaching over, she let blue chakra engulf her hands as she began to heal the snake.

Minutes passed before the chakra had finally knitted it’s skin back together.

Sakura sighed in exhaustion. She was sure that if she expelled anymore chakra that she would most definitely pass out on the forest floor.

“But how”? Hachi asked aghast. 

“It’s simple”. Sakura stated. “I realized that you use sound to compensate for your lack of vision. I knew that if I could throw my voice or falsify the sound of my movements in another location that you would take the bait and attack wherever the sound is”.

“How did you figure out I couldn’t see”?

“Ah yes, I have you to thank for that actually”. She snickered out with a small smile. “Had you not been teasing me, I never would’ve figured out. You see, I noticed that you never knew where my eyes were. It wasn’t until I talked that you could pinpoint where my mouth was on my face. From there, you shifted your eyes up until you found my eyes. Although, I suppose that was just luck on your part. I assume there is some type of guesswork in determining the distance from one’s mouth to one’s eyes, nee”?

The snake’s tongue flickered out in what Sakura assumed was mild irritation.  _ What a proud creature.  _ She thought.

“You’re a s-s-smart one, I’ll give you that”. It hissed. 

Sakura smiled.

“You beat me fair an s-s-square in battle, young one. I will come when you are in need s-s-snakelete”.

Sakura’s smile widened. “Thank you Hachi-san”, she said kindly. “Um.., You can go whenever….”.

The snake snorted before disappearing off in a cloud of purple smoke.

Anko finally got off her position on the ground before slowly approaching the pinkette.

“Well, at least you’re not a hatchling anymore, eh lil’ snakelete”? Anko smiled while drawing her into a hug.

Sakura smiled a toothy grin against the lapel of Anko’s tan trench coat. “Nope”. She said cheerily, “I guess I’m not”.


	9. A Test of Wills

The snake snorted before disappearing off in a cloud of purple smoke.

Anko finally got off her position on the ground before slowly approaching the pinkette.

“Well, at least you’re not a hatchling anymore, eh lil’ snakelet”? Anko smiled while drawing her into a hug.

Sakura smiled a toothy grin against the lapel of Anko’s tan trench coat. “Nope”. She said cheerily, “I guess I’m not”.

* * *

“Ano, sensei”? Sakura asked. “Where exactly are we”?

Anko looked down at her apprentice, lips pulled into a tight line before ripping her eyes away to stare up at the clouds.

After a few moments, she let out a drawn-out sigh, eyes still focused above. “Everywhere but nowhere at the same time”.

Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Everywhere but nowhere...Sensei, that doesn’t make any sense…”.

“This place,” she started. “This place has no name”.

Sakura took a moment to take a look at her surroundings. The area was large, to say the least. They seemed to be inside of a large and empty crater that stretched for miles. Surrounding it was a densely forested treeline signifying that they were still safely inside of the Land of Fire. 

“Sakura…”, she trailed off, turning to look down at her. “This is where my Sensei took me to complete the final stage of the Summoning Contract”.

Sakura took a small step back, a look of slight apprehension covering her face. “The exam is in three days, and I still don’t have very big chakra reserves….surely you don’t want me to-”.

“Sakura”! Anko cut in.

Sakura flinched slightly, unused to the biting tone she was using with her.

Pivoting on her heel, Anko trekked over to her, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders.

“Look at me”!

Sakura dragged her eyes up to stare at the Jounin in the eyes.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do something you weren’t ready for”. Releasing Sakura’s shoulders, she quickly smoothed out the crinkled fabric of her dress before taking a step back. “If you don’t want to do this, I’ll understand”.

“I..” Sakura started, taking a deep, calming breath. “I can do this. I  _ want _ to do this”.

Anko nodded her head, a small yet still tense smile on her face. “...Alrighty then. I’ll be hiding in the treeline in case you need me. You know what to do”.

With that, she went to walk away but just before breaking the treeline, she turned and offered a bright smile to the pinkette. “Remember Saku-chan, I believe in you”!

Sakura smiled back, watching Anko disappear into the dense foliage.

_ I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.  _

Sakura thought, repeating the mantra in her head. She knew that her Sensei believed in her. Now the only other person she had to convince was herself. __

_ I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. _

Pulling the bottom of her dress to the side, she bent down to quickly roll up the left leg of her green shorts.

Underneath was an intricate tattoo of a black snake. The head rested over the top of her kneecap. The white-striped body of it curled tightly up around her thigh four times, allowing its tail to rest on the top of her pelvis.

Steeling herself, she let her face fall into a tight line. She knew she could do this. If she could withstand long hours of reading with Reo-san, the painstakingly arduous hours of meditating twice a day, the rigors of training with Anko, and the absolutely agonizing process of getting the tattoo that dotted her leg, she could do this.

By blood, sweat, and tears, she would do this. Even if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

“Shannaro”! Sakura cheered, a fist pumped up into the air excitedly. “I beat Ichi-san! I told you I could do it Anko-Sensei”!

A hand reached out and sharply tapped the back of her head. “Ouch”! Sakura exclaimed, reaching a hand back to rub at the sting.

“Quiet brat. You may have earned the respect of Hachi, Nana, Roku, Go, Yon, San, Ni, and Ichi, but that still leaves Manda, brat”! Anko admonished.

“I know”! Sakura cheered. “And I’ll beat him too”!

The Jounin shot her a glare, causing Sakura to pause her cheering.

“You won’t be able to fight Manda, Sakura. Not even I would be able to take him alone”, Anko watched as a look of worry took over her companion’s face. “Instead, you’ll have to challenge him. Offer him a deal he absolutely cannot refuse”.

Sakura regarded her sensei with a confused look. “A deal he can’t refuse? What could I possibly offer him that he doesn’t already have”?

Anko turned and patted Sakura cheerily on the head. “That, my dear, will be up to you to figure out. Just like every other snake summoner before you”!

* * *

“Will it hurt”? Sakura asked.

Anko nodded. “Yes, but it will be worth it, that is if you still want it”?

Sakura walked up to the other woman, not stopping until she was right in front of her. Turning to the left, she spotted the only object in the room, a small bed.

Taking a deep breath, she heaved her way up on top of it before shimming off her green shorts.

“Go on then, I’m ready”.

“That’s my girl”.

What happened next was hours of pure unadulterated agony.

* * *

Raising a thumb to pearly-white teeth, she used a canine to bite into the soft flesh. She didn’t even wince as pain blossomed down her hand.

Using the same hand she bit, she reached to smear a stripe of blood all the way down the snake, from tail tip to head. She took a moment to note how the red of her blood looked striking against the pale of her skin and the shadows embedded into it.

“Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu”!

In a blast of smoke, the bloody snake slithered off of her thigh, down her calf, and over her foot until it reached the rocky floor of the crater. 

The ground shook, as her tattoo took shape, blossoming into a large monstrosity of a snake. Coughing from the smoke, Sakura braced herself, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Her limbs shook from the exertion of all the chakra it took to use this jutsu. She could now say that she understood why Anko-sensei had said to use this only as a last resort.

_ Oh, Kami-sama… _

A few moments passed as Sakura panted, waiting for the smoke to clear. Slowly but surely it did, revealing to her Manda’s true form.

“OROCHIMARU, YOU DARE SUMMON ME? THAT IS ONE-HUNDRED MORE CORPSES YOU OWE ME”! The snake roared.

Sakura stared at the beast. It stood at what must have been a colossal height of over one-hundred feet. Its scales were purple, with black rings dotting its entire body.

The snake’s head rotated as it looked for who had summoned it before slitted eyes landed on the pinkette. Sakura gulped but tried her best to hold back her fear.

She may feel terrified, but she refused to show it. 

_ I can do this. _

“YOU THERE, WHERE IS OROCHIMARU SO THAT I MAY GUT HIM”? The snake hissed, bending its head down to eye level with Sakura.

Sakura’s eyes widened as its massive head suddenly appeared mere inches in front of her face.

_ It moves so fast! _

“I uh….”, she trailed off before clearing her throat determinedly. “Orochimaru-sama is not here. However I-”

“ANKO THEN, WHERE IS SHE”?

Sakura internally winced. If she thought the snake was loud when its face was over a hundred feet away from her, it was really loud when it was just a few kunai lengths away from her poor ears.

“SPEAK, OR I SHALL CONSUME YOU”!

“Anko-sensei is not here! I summoned you”! Sakura shouted, taking a step closer to the snake. Now the two stood practically nose to nose.

A few tense moments passed as the snake did nothing but stare at her.

Suddenly, a large purple tongue swooped out of its mouth and under Sakura’s feet. She stumbled as the tongue picked her up high into the air.

Taking a moment to steady herself, she crouched low and bravely shot a look down to see exactly how far up it had taken her.

Emerald eyes opened in shock and her face turned from its usually lovely pale pink to an almost ghostly white.

She took back what she said about Manda being maybe ‘a hundred’ feet tall. From this angle, it seemed he was more like ‘a few hundred’ feet tall.

“YOU, A MERE BRAT DARE TO SUMMON ME”?

“I uh….YES”! She shouted.

Stumbling uneasily back up to her feet, she began to make careful steps across its tongue closer to the snake’s face.

“Manda-sama,” she began. “I have a proposition for you”.

The snake let loose a loud chuckle, causing her to jostle around a bit. Sakura struggled to remain upright. She didn’t want to allow Manda to make her fall. She wanted to appear strong to the beast.

“YOU HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR ME”? He asked. “LET US HEAR IT SNAKELETE. WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY OFFER ME”?

“Freedom,” Sakura bit out. “I will release you from the summoning scroll”.

Once again, the snake roared a booming laugh that echoed throughout the crater.

“YOU? A MERE HATCHLING WILL FREE ME? A FEAT I, THE MIGHTY MANDA, COULD NOT DO MYSELF”?

“What do you have to lose”? Sakura shouted. Now she was getting angry. “I will kill Orochimaru. You’re under contract, so you cannot”!

_ I can do this! _

“I, Sakura Harano promise to kill Orochimaru and convince Anko Mitarashi to recant the contract so that you may be free in exchange for your help”!

“AND IF YOU FAIL”?

“I…” Sakura started. “If I fail, I give you my life. For all of eternity, if you so wish it Manda-sama”.

The snake took a moment to ponder the deal.

Slowly, it bent its head to set Sakura down. The pinkette tumbled off the large tongue as Manda retracted it into his mouth.

_ Oh sweet land, I missed you! _

Once again, the snake pushed its head so close that the two were nose-to-nose.

“I ACCEPT YOUR DEAL, SNAKELET”!

Sakura’s eyes opened in surprise. She didn’t think that her offer would have been accepted. Oh well, she would take what she could get from the scary snake. 

“Oh! Uh... Great then…” she trailed off. “You can uh...go whenever then, I guess”.

The snake blinked at her for a moment as if in disbelief. How a snake could portray disbelief, she didn’t know, but it sure did seem to do a good job at it.

Suddenly, a loud ‘pop’ could be heard in the clearing as Manda disappeared back into his realm, leaving a small black and white snake where he once stood tall.

The ink version of himself slithered quickly across the rocky ground until it found Sakura’s leg, where it positioned itself back in its usual spot.

And that’s when it hit her.

Sakura stared out across the clearing in disbelief.

She had done it.

She, a little love-struck nobody from a civilian clan, had managed to summon the mighty Manda.

King of snakes.

_ Woah… _

And that was her final thought, as she sunk to her knees, completely exhausted from the day's events and how much chakra she had just expelled.

“Sakura”! A familiar voice shouted nearby.

Sakura tried to turn her head towards it to answer, but she found that she just really didn’t have the energy.

Anko watched as her student slumped forward. Clasping her hands together, she quickly threw together the seals to teleport over to her in a whorl of leaves.

Reaching down, she hastily caught the pinkette and hefted her up onto her back. 

_ That’s it Saku-chan, rest.  _ She thought with a smile as she began the long trek back to Konoha. 

_ You’ve earned it. _

_ Heh. _

_ You really did it. _

* * *

  
  


Sakura woke up with a start. Her body ached something fierce.

The sun though, the sun felt nice on her skin. And the crisp white sheets felt so nice against her skin.

_ Wait...white sheets? I don’t have white sheets… _

Sakura shot up, hand instinctually reaching down for her weapons pouch that wasn’t there.

“Mah, Saku-chan”, a familiar voice drawled. “Calm yourself, you’ve just been through an ordeal.

“Anko-sensei”? Sakura asked, watching her approach the bed.

“The one and only”! She said with a bright grin on her face and a hand behind her back.

“Ugh I feel terrible…” she groaned. “Ano, what’s behind your back Sensei”?

Anko’s grin got impossibly bigger as she slowly pulled her hand out in front of her, revealing a large brown box. 

“This, Saku-chan, is my gift to you,” she chirped.

“Eh? You didn’t have to get me anything….I’m not that hurt…”.

“Pfft, not for that you idiot”! Anko admonished, setting the box on Sakura’s lap. “For your successful training”!

“My successful training….You don’t mean…”

“Yep! Exams are tomorrow”!

Sakura’s eyes opened in alarm. “You mean I slept for two days? Oh, Kami-sama! No”!

She made to get off the bed, but Anko shot her an icy look. Sakura froze and immediately settled herself back on the bed.

“Yep, you were suffering from chakra exhaustion. For now, I expect you to spend all your time here. Right up until the exam is about to start, that is. Since you won't be training, maybe you can meditate or something. Now open up the box”! 

Sakura sighed in defeat. In the few weeks she had been under Anko’s tutelage, she had learned that arguing would get her nowhere.

Reaching across the bedsheets, she grabbed the box before tearing it open.

Inside was… another box.

She shot the Jounin an unamused look.

“Oh shut it, you. I don’t package these things”.

Sakura shrugged before tearing into the second box.

Sakura gasped. Inside was a long-sleeved, kimono top. It was beautiful. Duel toned with one half being emerald green, and the other a pale white. Next to it sat a tan-colored obi. Under it was a pair of tight matching white pants.

Rummaging around more, she found a pair of knee-high tan boots and gloves to complete the look.

“Sensei…” she trailed off. “I don’t know what to say”.

“A thank you might be a good start,” Anko teased. “Or a ’you’re the best sensei in the’-

Anko laughed as she was cut off by Sakura launching herself off the bed and hugging the Jounin tightly in her arms.

“Thank you so much”! Sakura choked out.

“AYE, NO CRYING ON ME SNAKELET”!


	10. And So It Begins

Sensei…” she trailed off. “I don’t know what to say”.

“A thank you might be a good start,” Anko teased. “Or a ’you’re the best sensei in the’-

Anko laughed as she was cut off by Sakura launching herself off the bed and hugging the Jounin tightly in her arms.

“Thank you so much”! Sakura choked out.

“AYE, NO CRYING ON ME SNAKELET”!

* * *

Sakura smiled as she walked into the small office area. She had so many fond memories here. While she couldn’t say that she particularly enjoyed the rigorous training regimen that Anko-sensei put her through, she did like the time she got to spend here with Reo-san.

Sliding the door shut with her new tan boots, she quickly scanned the room, taking in the sights of the old oak desk, tall bookshelves, and various scrolls scattered amuck around the place.

“Reo-san”? She called out quietly. Had it been anyone else, she would have hollered louder, but she remembered how sensitive Reo’s ears were.

As expected, the older man stumbled out from under his desk in complete disarray.

Today he was wearing a dark red kimono with traditional wood geta and white socks. Upon further appraisal, she noted that she particularly liked the way that the red contrasted quite nicely with the silver tones of his hair.

In a way, the coloring reminded her of Hachi-san’s coloring.

_ As a human, Hachi-san would probably look pretty similar to Reo-san…  _ Sakura chuckled at the thought.  _ Kami-sama… That snake would kill me if he could read my thoughts right now!  _ At the thought, she had to raise a kimono-clad arm up to stifle her giggles.

“Ah Sakura-chan”! A familiar voice pulled her out of her musings. “How are you? Anko sent me a letter detailing your, eh, exploits”.

Walking over to the man, she reached a gloved hand out to brush away at the crumpled edges of his kimono. “I’m fine, thank you”! She chirped, throwing a small smile his way. “I just came to say goodbye before the exams”.

Reo reached a hand out to cup the bottom of her chin, forcing emerald eyes to meet with kind amber ones. “Eh? What do you mean Sakura-chan? Just because the exams will be over soon, doesn’t mean your training will be”.

Shaking her head, Sakura took a small step back. “I dunno’, Anko-sensei has been talking about finding me a full-time instructor so that I don’t keep intruding on the hospital staff”.

Folding his arms across his chest, Reo huffed. “You? Intruding? Hah”! He gruffed out. “Don’t let Reji hear talking that mess or he’ll have both our heads”!

Sakura giggled. Reji would most definitely not be happy if he heard that kind of talk.“My lips are sealed”.

Reo nodded happily. “Good, good. He told me to thank you for healing that nasty paper cut he got last week. He’d thank you himself, but he and the wife just had a baby…”.

Emerald eyes opened in shock. She knew his wife was pregnant, but not that she was that far along already. “Oh! I’ll have to send him a fruit basket or something… Congratulate him for me if you see him, nee”?

“Will do Sakura-chan”. 

“So, uh, yeah. Thanks for everything, Reo-san”. Sakura said rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I really appreciate-”.

She was cut off by warm arms surrounding her and the strong smell of herbs. At first, she tensed, not quite used to contact. In the ninja world, contact was as good as a death sentence. It was because of this that she usually preferred to initiate contact.

Eventually, she relaxed into the touch and hugged him.

After a few moments, he pulled away, rims of eyes tinged with red.

“Anytime, Sakura. Anytime”.

Shooting her a watery smile, he turned around to face the window. “Now get out of here and pass those Chunin Exams”!

Sakura nodded and turned on her heel to leave, but right before she approached the door, she turned around and took one more glance around the office that had pretty much become a second home to her. “I’ll visit soon”! She called.

Without waiting for a response, she made her way out, shutting the old door shut quietly behind her now durable frame.

* * *

_ The Tilted Kunai _

On the outside, the shop seemed pretty normal. It was small and boxed in between two other shops. One seemed to be a laundry mat of some type and the other….A massage parlor. Though Sakura guessed it wasn’t just a ‘normal’ massage place as it boasted something about ‘happy endings’.

Ignoring the other two, she walked into the weapons shop. 

A small ‘ding’ could be heard throughout the establishment as the door swung open. Surprisingly, the shop was empty, outside of her from what she could see. Shelves were lined with thousands of weapons she had never seen before.

Along the walls were full-body mannequins that held large weapons in their life-like hands. On their bodies were specially made clothes, some of which had special seals placed on them.

_ Woah! This place is so much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. _

“Either buy something or get out”! A voice growled out from behind her.

Sakura jumped at the sudden noise, quickly pivoting around to see who had just spoken to her.

The man looked… Odd to say the least. 

He had long silvery brown hair, tied at the nape of his neck. On his tanned face was a single, cracked monocle that looked like it had seen better days. Frankly, the baggy beige pants and bright yellow shirt also looked like they had seen better days.

Through slitted eyes, the man looked her up and down as if appraising her. 

“Heh. You don’t look like much”. He huffed, noting the ninja headband. “And what kind of ninja are you? Didn’t even notice an old man approaching”.

Who did the old man think he was? Being so rude to her. Sakura let out a calming breath before throwing the man a polite, if tense, smile.

“Ano, I was looking for the owner. So if you could just point me-”.

“Yeah? You’re looking at him, shrimp. So what do you want”?

_ This man is trying my patience. _

Closing her eyes in frustration, she swiped a gloved hand across her face irritatedly.  __

_ Breathe in and out. In and out. _

“I was wondering,” she paused, wondering if the old bat would interrupt him again. “I was wondering if you would be so kind as to help me modify a tool of mine”.

The older man’s eyes twinkled at the prospect of working weapons. “Well”! He muttered cheerily, making his way over to a tall counter in the center of the store. “Why didn’t you just say so sooner? What do ya’ need”?

“You see, I have these chakra scalpels, but I don’t have anything to really carry them around in. So I was wondering-”

“Yeah, yeah. Hand them over shrimpy”! He said impatiently, extending an aged hand out expectantly.

“Uhh. Sure, I guess”. Reaching into the weapons pouch she kept secured to the side of her thigh, she pulled out the two scalpels that had both been slowly but surely cutting away at the sides of the small container. “Here”.

The man snatched them hastily from her hands before examining them intently.

Sakura scowled at him.  _ How rude! _

‘Pat’, ‘pat’, ‘pat’.

Sakura turned her head towards the sound.

Standing a few feet from her stood another member of the Rookie Nine.

_ What was her name again…? _

“Good morning Sakura-san”! A cheery voice called as she waved in greeting.

“Ah Tenten, grab me that staff will you, dear”? The old man said, not once looking up from the scalpels. 

_ Tenten! That’s what her name is! _

“Good morning Tenten-san”! Sakura greeted back.

Tenten walked over to a nearby shelf and scanned its contents before brown eyes settled on a staff made completely of Jade. Grabbing in twin calloused hands, she stared at it for a minute, rubbing her fingers along the finely crafted grooves. Nodding her head she made her way back and handed it to the man.

“Here, father,” she said softly as she set it down on the counter. “I’ll be making my way to the exams to meet up with my boys if you need me. Bye Sakura-san”! 

“Bye, bye”! Sakura said with a small wave. How someone so rude could raise someone as nice as Tenten, she would never know.

Sakura was dragged from her musings as the old man grabbed the jade staff in his hands. Using blue chakra, Sakura watched as he fused one of her scalpels with one end of the staff.

“Hey wait”! Sakura protested.”What do you think you’re doing”?

The man ignored her and continued to do the same with the other end. When he was done he looked so proud of himself. 

Flipping the now dangerous staff around in his hands, smiled lovingly at it before roughly shoving it into the hands of the pinkette.

“Here. That’ll be 5,000 Ryo,” he said as he reached under the table, pulling out a small brown harness that the staff could fit into.

“5,000 Ryo”! Sakura exclaimed. “Geesh! Don’t you think you’re being a little bit stingy”?

“Nope, now fork it over kid”.

Sakura shook her head in frustration.  _ Ugh! I don’t have time for this! _

Reaching into the folds of her kimono, she pulled out a small wallet.

She smiled as she went to open the mouth of the white snake wallet. She remembered when Anko gave it to her. Anko had been so proud when she beat Ichi- the white snake that the wallet was supposed to emulate- that she went and found this little gem for her. Sakura was completely enamored with it right off-the-bat.

Ichi-san was a bit less enamored with it.

As a matter of fact, he mentioned that it might make a good snack for him.

Sakura highly disagreed.

Rifling through the wallet, she pulled out the 5,000 Ryo and set it on the table.

_ I’m going to have to do so many missions to make up for that…Well, at least I won’t be completely useless this time. _

At that thought, Sakura perked up a bit as she went to grab the harness. Sliding it over her head, she adjusted the straps so that it felt comfortable and she could move with ease.

Reaching down, she grabbed the staff and carefully slid it into the harness on her back.

_ This thing is longer than I thought it was. _ She noted. The staff, if she had to guess, was probably around four feet tall. However, with her ability to extend the chakra scalpels, she guestimated she could probably expand the staff to be around 6 or seven feet tall.

She would have to be careful though. The bigger she makes the scalpels, the more chakra she expends per second trying to maintain it.

“Thank you,” she said with a bow as she made her way to the door.

“Hey, shrimp”! The old man called.

Sakura sighed and turned around. “Yes”? She asked.

“Those scalpels can detach if you manipulate the chakra inside of it just right,” he said gruffly. “Now begone! And don’t kill yourself with it”!

Sakura shook her head and made her way out of the shop.

_ Next stop, the Chunin Exams! _

* * *

“Alright kids, listen up”! The strange-looking shinobi said. 

The man stood in front of them dressed in the typical Konoha garb. He was tall and stood in a hunched over manner. Overall, he looked pretty average for a shinobi, minus the senbon he insisted on chewing between pearly white teeth.

“My name is Genma, and I will be your new proctor since Hayato…”, he muttered, eyes flickering around the room hesitantly. “Uh, since Hayato cannot be here at the moment.”

Ignoring the man for now, Sakura looked around the small room that she and the other Genins were rounded up in. The room looked old. The cracked stone floors and the peeling white walls practically screamed its age. Across from her was a large oak door from which she could hear the deafening cries of excited spectators. 

Other than the other Genin and the proctor, and two doors, the room was completely empty.

If she were being completely honest with herself, she would admit that she didn’t really want to go out there.

Out there would be thousands of people who would judge her. However, they weren’t the people that she cared about.

Really, she mostly cared about Anko. The older woman had done so much to support her when nobody else would. Sakura didn’t know if she could bear going out there, doing poorly, and embarrassing her Sensei like that.

_ What if… What if I mess up? _

A feeling of nausea bubbled up in the pit of her stomach, twisting around like little knots.

“...Sakura Haruno-”.

At the sound of her name, her eyes shot to the proctor.

“...versus Shino Aburame. Please enter the arena”.

_ No! _

Emerald eyes opened wide in shock. She would be fighting Shino? The other boy didn’t struggle at all during the preliminaries against the other ninja. She knew that this would be a tough battle.

“WOOO, YOU GOT THIS SAKURA-CHAN”! 

Sakura looked over at her blond teammate who flashed her a large smile and a double thumbs up gesture. In response, she offered him a small smile and a gentle nod in his direction.

Naruto had always been so kind to her. And how had she repaid that kindness? With disrespect and violence.

_ I’m not that type of person anymore…  _

_ I promise I’ll be better, Naruto. _

Looking next to him, she saw her other teammate. He was looking at her, cold, dead eyes sizing up her change in appearance. 

Shivers wracked down her spine at the look. 

There was a time where she had wanted those eyes focused on her. After all, she had adored him. She would have given almost anything for just a single look, a touch, a word. And in a way, she still did.

But not in the same way that she used to.

Sasuke could be a friend, a teammate, or even a rival. But he could never be what she had originally wanted. And frankly, Sakura was okay with that.

He was no longer her reason to be strong.

And just like that, her nausea dissipated. She could do this. She would do this.

Making her way to the door, she stepped out into the arena.

* * *

The loud cries of the audience were deafening. Ignoring them, Sakura made her way to the other side of the arena, her opponent in tow.

The proctor, Genma, looked over at Shino. “You ready kid”? He asked, still twiddling the long senbon in between his teeth.

Shino simply nodded his head in response.

_ Ah, so he’s the quiet type. Kinda reminds me of Roku-san. _

Sakura smiled at the thought. The snake had been so upset with her for tricking him that he had refused to speak to her for days after summoning him. _ Hehe. _

“And you, Kunoichi”?

Sakura looked over at Genma and flashed him a single thumbs up. “You betcha”.

“Good,” Genma said. “Begin”. And with that, he pulled some chakra to his feet and launched himself outside of the arena and safely behind the viewer railing.

A few moments passed as the two Genin simply stared at each other, sizing the other up. She could see her own reflection looking back at her in the other boy's glasses.

“Aburame-san,” Sakura greeted before getting into a crouched battle stance.

“Kunoichi-san,” he greeted back.

Sakura’s eyes flashed in irritation. She could feel a tick forming on her brow.

_ Does he… does he not know my name? How could he not know my name?! We were in the same class for years! _

Gritting her teeth, she placed both hands in front of her, quickly forming a couple of hand seals.

_ Guess I’ll just have to beat it into him. _

“Ninja Art: Hell Viewing Technique”!

Shino took a step back, as a circle of leaves surrounded his body. “What-,” He started, before cutting himself off by releasing a drawn-out scream.

“AHHH”!

_ Heh! Gotcha! _ She thought with a smirk.  _ Hope you like that horrifying vision! _

She remembered Anko teaching her that particular jutsu. Anko had been quite surprised when she told her it wasn’t her first time being on the receiving end of it. Kakashi-sensei of all people was the first one to ‘show’ it to her during the bell test.

The jutsu was designed to make the victim see a horrifying vision. While it did wonders to distract a target, she knew it didn’t last long. She had to act fast if she wanted to end this. 

Reaching behind, her she grasped the smooth jade hilt of her staff and pulled it out of its sheath. Her smirk only widened as the mid-morning sun glinted off of the shiny scalpels on the ends. She took a moment to weigh it in her hands, trying to get a feel for it. It felt slightly awkward, but she felt fairly confident that she would be able to figure it out quickly enough.

“Get ready”! Pulling chakra to her feet, she then dashed towards Shino.

Twirling the staff in her hands, she raised it up high, the pointed end aimed at him. While she wasn’t aiming for any vital points, she knew that she had to be careful with this opponent. While killing wasn’t prohibited, some people would do anything to win.

“Cha”! She yelled as she charged in his direction.

However, just as she was about to hit, a pale hand darted out and grasped the bottom of her staff.

Sakura’s eyes opened in shock.  _ But how! I had him under my genjutsu! _

And that’s when she felt it. A small push against her chakra.

“You don’t get it, do you”? Shino’s voice quietly spoke, a mere inches from her ear. “My sensei is a Genjutsu specialist. You think some low-level jutsu like that would get me”?

Grabbing up chakra in his hand, he used he tightened his grip on the staff and lifted her up by it. Sakura’s feet dangled in the air, but she refused to let go. That was her staff damn it!

Pulling it back, he quickly shot it forward, slinging both Sakura and the staff flying across the arena.

Sakura screamed as she hit the ground. The scalpel on her staff had managed to graze her side deeply when she had landed.

_ Stupid!  _ She thought angrily.  _ I should have known better than to use an unfamiliar weapon on his opponent. Stupid, stupid, stupid! _

Standing up, she shook herself off before getting back into a battle stance, bloody staff left alone on the dirt floor.

She grimaced in pain as she used a single hand to cover her wound.

_ It’s deep. Should I heal it? Or save the chakra? My reserves still aren't very big…  _

But before she had a chance to make a decision, she was cut off by her opponent. “This is over”. Shino muttered, putting his hands together to form a few hand seals. “Ninja Art: Beetle Tornado”!

Sakura watched in mild disgust and abject horror as a swarm of flying beetles crawled out from his sleeves and flew towards her. 

_ What do I do, what do I do, what do I do!? _

And that’s when it hit her.  _ What do snakes eat? _ She smirked as she began to form the proper seals. “Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu”!

‘Poof’!

A large red snake appeared out of a cloud of purple smoke.

Gathering chakra in her feet, she quickly backflipped out of the way, not wanting to get hit by the snake or the tornado of bugs.

“What is-ss it this-s time s-snakelet”? Hachi asked, a large white tongue flicking out of his mouth as he spoke.

“Brought you a snack”! Sakura shouted as she continued to duck and dodge out of the way of the tornado that was chasing after her.

“A s-snack you s-s-say”? Slitted eyes moved in her direction. She knew he couldn’t see, but as long as Shino didn’t know that, they would be fine.

Flicking his large tail out, Hachi darted forwards into her direction, leaving a deep snake sized trail in his wake.

Sakura dragged her eyes over to the staff she dropped. If she could just get to it, she could detach her scalpels. At least those she knew how to use.

“Sakura-chan”! Naruto’s voice rang out across the arena. “Watch out”!

Sakura looked over to the voice. 

“AGHHH”! She screamed as the tornado rammed into her already injured side. Pushing more chakra into her feet, she violently pushed herself backward. 

“S-snakelete…” Hachi’s deep voice hissed as he darted past her. “Let me handle this”!

She watched in fear as Hachi threw himself at the tornado. The beetles engulfed his entire frame.

“HACHI”! Sakura yelled. “NO”!

Her eyes hardened in anger.

_ You kill my friends, I kill you. I don’t care who you are. _

Risking a glance at Shino, she noticed his full attention was on his beetles. Using his distracted state to her advantage, she dashed over to her staff. Picking it up, she pushed her chakra into it causing both scalpels to fall out.

She put the staff part back into the sling on her back before picking up her scalpels.

_ I’m not going to have enough chakra to heal myself and use these.  _

Sakura looked down at her hands clutching the blades.

_ Oh well, my body can wait. Hachi… my friends come first! _

Gripping them tightly in her hands, she pushed a huge wave of chakra into the steel. She could feel the power sing under her finger pads as they both grew one, then two feet in length.

“This ends now”! She hissed out as she ran towards the unsuspecting Shino.

Raising a single scalpel, she slashed towards his right side. He quickly turned out of the way, dodging her attack.

“Ninja Art: Bug Cocoon,” he bit out.

A swarm of bugs came out from under his clothes, covering him until she could no longer see any skin.

_ Tch! _

Raising her other weapon, she swiped at him again, this time catching him down what she thought was the front of his chest. She grinned in spite.  _ Got him! _

_ Oh no…  _

Her grin fell from her face as the bugs climbed down her chakra scalpel and onto her. She dropped it in surprise as the bugs just kept coming, climbing onto her body and under her clothes.

“You’re right kunoichi, this is over,” Shino bit out, the bugs receding from around his face, allowing her to peek at his stoic expression.

Shaking hands dropped the scalpels and Sakura watched as the chakra got sucked out of them as they fell to the floor. The bugs seemed to be eating the chakra out of them

_ That explains why I feel so weak… _

_ So this is it then. Guess, no matter how hard I try, I’ll always be behind them. _

A single tear slid down Sakura’s face. She hated this feeling. The feeling of uselessness. This is what she trained so hard to avoid. She felt like a burden.

“That can’t be”! Shino’s surprised voice mumbled out.

Sakura followed his gaze and looked down on herself. The bugs were falling off over her one by one- dead. Shino took a step back, muttering something under his breath that she couldn’t quite make out. The bugs, that is the living ones, quickly followed him, retreating back into the safety of his jacket.

_ What the hell?  _ Sakura thought.  _ How could they just die like- _

“S-snakelete, duck,”! A familiar voice yelled out from her left. Complying, she quickly threw herself backward, grasping her scalpels tightly on the way down.

_ Hachi! _

The snake barreled into Shino, using his full weight to drag him almost all the way across the arena.

“S-sorry s-snakelet, that s-snack took me a while to eat,” he hissed out as he wrapped his body around Shino in a vice-like grip.

Sakura smirked. “Glad you could join us”! She grinned. She really was glad. She could finish this. She would finish this. Pushing chakra into her scalpels for the last time, she readied herself, aiming the scalpels at him once again.

Even though her body screamed at her not to, she pushed chakra into her feet, ready to launch herself at Shino.

“Oh, ho, ho,” Hachi snickered out. “S-seemes the old man has taken a liking to you”!

_ What? _

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” He called out. “Your chakra”!

She looked at her scalpels. How could she not have noticed? Instead of glowing the normal blue that it should have been, her’s were radiating a dark-purple hue.

_ I’ll figure this out later. It’s time to end this. Cha! _

Taking a deep breath, she dashed over to Shino.

But then she stopped. Scalpels just millimeters away from his exposed throat.

“Do you yield”? She asked. “I’d rather not have to do this the hard way”.

Shino stared at her for a few moments before letting out a sigh. “The best shinobi know when they’ve been beaten. I yield Sakura”.

Sakura inwardly smiled.  _ Guess he knows my name after all. _

She lowered her weapons and that’s when she felt it. The blossoming pain radiating through her side.  _ Kami-sama… It hurts! _

She grunted as she fell to her knees, weapons clattering to the floor.

“S-snakelet”! Hachi called out as he released Shino, allowing him to fall to the floor in a heap of bug covered limbs.

Using speed only the fastest son of Manda could achieve, he sped over and wrapped his body around her before she could completely crumble to the ground.

Sakura blinked a few times and relaxed into the scaley embrace. Her vision was getting spotty.

“Don’t worry, I got her”. A soothing voice called out.

_ Anko-sensei. _

“No”! Hachi hissed out, body tightening around her slightly. “I’ve got her”.

“She needs help”! Anko angrily bit out. “So hand her over”.

“She shouldn’t have had that much chakra. What did you do to her,” a lazy voice asked. She remembered that voice. Though the tone he used was off. He sounded lazy, as per usual, but he also sounded worried.

_ Kakashi-sensei? Why would be worried about me…  _

“Fuck off,” Anko growled. “Hand her over right-”!

Whatever Anko was going to say was lost to Sakura as she finally succumbed to her wounds.


	11. Oh Manda

“She needs help”! Anko angrily bit out. “So hand her over”.

“She shouldn’t have had that much chakra. What did you do to her,” a masculine voice asked. She remembered that voice. Though the tone he used was off. He sounded lazy, as per usual, but he also sounded worried.

_ Kakashi-sensei? Why would be worried about me…? _

“Fuck off,” Anko growled. “Hand her over right-”!

Whatever Anko was going to say was lost to Sakura as she finally succumbed to her wounds.

* * *

Her head hurt too much. Her body hurt too much. It seemed as if everything hurt too much. Sakura cringed as her senses ramped up, sending pain signals from her battered body to her brain. She knew that she had taken a lot of damage to her side, but she had underestimated the amount of bruising and scrapes she had gotten from being tossed around the arena.

Gritting her teeth, she gingerly pressed a couple of fingers to her side in an attempt to access the damage. 

_ Ouch! _ She thought with a grimace. Her side absolutely throbbed at even the lightest touch, but she knew that she needed to do this. She needed to heal up so that she could get back to training as soon as possible. 

Letting out a resigned sigh, she began to pull chakra into her hand.

_ What the?! _

She watched in awe as a deep purple engulfed her pointer and middle fingers. The chakra was soothing as it poured into her wound, delicately knitting her flesh back together. Sakura sighed in relief.

She didn’t even register the fact that normal chakra generally didn’t do that- At least not painlessly.

‘BAM’!

Emerald green eyes flew open in shock at the sound of the door being thrown into the adjacent wall. She heard, rather than felt, the soothing chakra pitter out and her hand dropped limply into the hospital bedsheets beside her.

“Snaklete”! The familiar voice of her sensei called out. Rushing over, she grasped her tightly in her arms. Sakura hissed in pain at the abrupt contact but otherwise tried her best to return the sweet gesture.

“Hello Sensei,” Sakura greeted fondly.

Releasing her, Anko made to sit at the foot of the bed, smiling over at her student. “How’re ya’ feelin’?

“Like Manda himself decided to take a bite out of me,” she responded with a light giggle.

Ank rolled her eyes. “With the way you look brat, I don’t think anyone would deny your story”.

Sakura’s giggled increased. “Yeah, me neither”.

“Speaking of which,” Anko started. Eyes, suddenly beginning to dull. “At some point, we’re going to need to talk about that,”

“Huh”? Sakura questioned, confused.

“What do you mean, ‘huh’”? Anko frowned. “What happened between you and Manda”?

Sakura returned the frown. “Um, nothing? I haven’t seen him since…. Since that one time with you”.

Anko shot up angrily from the bed. “Don’t bullshit me, brat. He’s dangerous! You know better than to go off and summon h-”.

“Am I interrupting something”? 

Two pairs of eyes shot over to the voice.

Over by the door stood Kakashi-sensei, who was leaning lazily against the frame, book in hand.

“As a matter of fact, yes you are,” Anko bit out.

“Good thing I don’t care then,” Kakashi shot back, making his way over to stand next to the purple-haired nin over their student. “How are you feeling, Sakura-chan”?

Sakura scowled. Where did he get off calling her Sakura-chan? He had abandoned her when she needed him most. He was supposed to be there- to teach her the skills needed in order for her to grow strong and capable. But here he was, acting like nothing had happened.

Sakura tilted her head. “Fine,” she responded curtly.

“Sasuke deserted the village”.

“Shut up Kakashi”! Anko growled, body getting into a defensive stance. “That was not your place to tell her that”!

Sharp eyes ignored the Jounin and stared hard at the pinkette.

Sakura froze. She didn’t know what to think about the change in events. On one hand, a part of her felt happy that he was gone. Try as she might, looking at him was sometimes painful. He served as a reminder of the failure she once was- of the failure she was still trying to overcome. 

On the other hand, she felt hurt that he had left. She knew it was selfish, but she couldn’t help it. And what about Naruto? How would he feel that the raven was gone?

“Oh,” she said simply. “Does…. Does Naruto know”?

Kakashi paused for a moment as if weighing his options. 

“Naruto was part of the retrieval mission. You’ve been out for six days”.

Sakura jolted, immediately regretting it as her side protested. 

_ Six days? Retrieval mission? _

“I need to see Hokage-sama,”  _ To demand some damn answers! _

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean? According to volume eight of  The Ninja Code _ : _ ‘It is every Ninjas’ right t-”

“Because he’s dead”.

Just like that, Sakura felt reality leave her as she once again passed out.


End file.
